Monday, June 9, 2014, Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

This series is a re-post from 2014...

Seven days without Internet, telephone, television or a 

shower facility. It might sound unpleasant to some, but such is

 the life of wildlife enthusiasts who want to experience the well

 known Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains 

National Park...

There are many reasons for visiting Cades Cove, but for me, 

the main reason was to photograph some of the plentiful 

black bears that live in the area.  In six days we spotted over 

forty bears.  Everyday produced new anticipation of bear 

sightings.  The next photograph is of one of the first bears 

we found just as it was getting dark...

Some of the bears were seen in such dark shadows in the 

forest that a decent photograph was impossible.  Luckily, 

many were in field edges. feeding on the bountiful vegetation

 and were easy to see from the loop road...

Naturally, the bears attract a lot of visitors to the park.  One of 

the popular ways to bear watch seemed to be to place chairs 

in the bed of a pick up truck and load it up with family and 

friends...

All bear sightings were exciting for the many visitors from 

urban areas, and foreign countries, many of whom had never 

seen a bear in the wild before...

 

 

The majority of the bears that we saw were yearlings or two 

year old's.  By far, the most popular sightings were of 

the young of the year cubs..

 

 

 

The small cubs are accompanied by their mothers which 

adds a degree of unpredictability to the mix.  If tourists 

would keep a respectful distance from the animals and not 

feed them, EVER, there would be no problems with bears.  

Unfortunately, the NPS does not have enough staff to 

protect the bears from the uninformed or disrespectful

 humans...

 Crowds like this gather at every sighting of bears and most 

create no problems for the bears or the park employees...

 

But, there is always someone who thinks the rules do not 

apply to them, like this couple who drove their car into a 

hayfield with a mowed area, provided for access by those 

in wheelchairs...

We frequently spotted a sow (female) with three cubs during 

our stay.  She became very well known, and popular, with the 

visitors, largely due to the predictability of spotting her at the 

road leading to the Abrams Falls trail head...

 

Of course, wherever the sow went, the cubs were sure to

 follow...

As they scampered after mom one decided to demonstrate 

the "cubby dance" for us...

Is there any wonder why the cubs are so popular?  How 

could anyone not be enchanted by their antics?

Sometimes the mother and cubs lose track of each other... 

Their keen sense of hearing, and smell, soon have them 

 

reunited.

  Opportunities to see the bears always leads to bear jams...                                

 

Bear jams often include poor behavior, such as 

approaching the bears too closely...

 

 

At some point park personnel must intervene both for the 

safety of the visitors and the bears...

An employee fires a paintball gun at this sow in an attempt to 

move her away from the road.  The effort was doomed from 

the beginning because she had cubs in a nearby tree.  

It is hard to imagine a sow leaving her cubs for any reason...

 

The next photo is of a small bear that I was lucky to have a 

chance to photograph without a bear jam forming.  I followed 

it a short distance from the road where motorists could not 

see it, and so, passed on by...

 

From the photos it appears that I am much closer to the bear 

than I actually was.  Using a 600mm equivalent lens, and 

cropping during post processing, I was able to get the close 

views that I always strive for when photographing wildlife...

 

All of the bears that we saw were feeding on vegetation 

of one sort or another...

 

This bear was digging at the base of a tree for insects that 

were hiding there...

 

Finally, on our last evening in the Cove, we came upon a jam 

unlike any other we had encountered: NPS wildlife technician 

Rick Varner had tranquilized the mother bear  near Abrams 

Falls trail head.  

Most people were only seeing the cubs in a tree beside the 

road; not knowing about the drama that was unfolding just a 

few yards away.  

In the next photo Varner carries the sleeping bear from the 

woods to have her located near his vehicle for the procedures

 to follow...

Before beginning their work, the technicians applied 

moisturizer to her eyes because she cannot blink while 

sedated...

 

A mask was placed over her eyes to prevent optical 

stimulation.  Even though sedated, it is thought that 

she can still be stimulated by activities going on in 

front of her eyes...

She was weighed, had measurements taken, had blood 

drawn, one tooth was pulled, a tattoo was placed on her 

lip, and an ear tag attached to her ear...

 

NPS technician Rick Varner, and his assistant, were very 

friendly and answered the numerous questions of many of 

the people forming the "jam" and observing the proceedings 

with interest...

The sow was loaded into a container and allowed to 

"wake up" before she was released to rejoin her cubs...

Many of us waited, hoping to photograph the reunion, 

but she gave us the slip...

We left early the next morning feeling fatigued by the long 

hours of looking for wildlife but refreshed by the rewards of 

our efforts.  In addition to photographs, we left with memories

of interesting animal encounters and beautiful vistas...

 

 

Thanks for visiting, be well, and come back soon.